Now, I have a big secret (if you tell anyone, I’ll know it was you). I’m not the biggest Assassin’s Creed guy. I grew up loving the Ezio series. However, since Black Flag was released in 2013, I just haven’t been able to get back into the franchise. The new games focused too hard on the open-world experience, and I would burnout early on.
In saying that, just a week ago, I spent four hours playing the brand-new Assassin’s Creed Shadows at a preview event at Ubisoft Australia’s office, and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. The game ran smoothly, combat was the most interactive it had ever been in the series, and I liked what I saw of the story. The biggest thing for me, though, was that exploration no longer made me want to take a stress nap whenever I’d open the world map.
So, gather up your thickest piles of hay and let’s dive in, shall we?
Who do you play in Assassin’s Creed Shadows?
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is stepping away from its usual settings and is finally exploring the famously requested feudal Japan period. The series lets you play as two separate protagonists for the first time, Naoe and Yasuke, who eventually join forces to fight against a common enemy.
Naoe is a rebellious shinobi from the Iga clan looking to avenge her father after the daimyo Oda Nobunaga attacked her village. Yasuke, on the other hand, is the stoic samurai under service to Nobunaga and was part of the attack on Naoe’s village. Yasuke is also the first protagonist in the series based on a real historical figure (just don’t mention it on X, trust me).
Each character represents a different kind of gameplay style. If you want a pure action-game experience, Yasuke is your pick for whenever you wanna slash through mobs of enemies or have intense duels. Or, if you want to take a stealthier approach, you can pick Naoe to blend into the shadows and assassinate your targets.
What’s different about Assassin’s Creed Shadows?
At the preview event, I chatted with the game’s Quest Designer, Luc Planter, about the new features coming to the game. In our talk, he mentioned a few times that the team wanted this Assassin’s Creed to feel like a fresh start for players.
The game will also introduce a new feature called ‘Canon Mode’ for those who want to play the game as the developers intended. That means you don’t have to worry about dialogue choices or who your character romances; the game chooses for you. Role-playing elements are there if you want them, but if you want to sit back and experience the game the “correct” way, that’s the mode for you.
Time moves forward in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, introducing weather conditions and seasons. While playing, the in-game world will change climates, adding extra difficulty to some missions and making the world feel more lived in. I’ll admit I was a bit nervous when I heard about time skips in the game. I hate playing against the clock and optimising the best ways to play so I don’t miss out on anything. Thankfully, while time does skip forward, side missions won’t expire, so you can freely dive into them whenever you’re ready.
Different weather states in the game also change how stealth works in Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Ubisoft has mentioned that they’ve implemented a more dynamic stealth system that pays attention to light and shadows, and different seasons will have their pros and cons. For example, playing a stealth mission in a snowy climate will be more challenging as you’ll be easier to spot and will leave tracks.
If I’m being harsh
Even though there’s a lot in this game that I found to be very enjoyable, I still have some issues with how your character controls.
The free-running experience can sometimes feel a little messy in every Assassin’s Creed game. Your character will randomly jump in the wrong direction or climb walls you only intended to run past. This gets a little trickier here with Shadows.
When playing the demo, I had a situation where I was trying to quickly course-correct my character to run through a gate while playing as Yasuke. Because Yasuke charges into objects while running, before I could get him to stop, he ended up sprinting through multiple explosive barrels and dying. To be fair, this was avoidable (and very funny), but I did feel like that shouldn’t have happened.
There was also another section in the demo where you had to clear out a building of baddies (not hot, just evil) with some very tight corridors. I played as Yasuke here, and it felt like I was a Pong ball, bouncing from wall to wall as Yasuke would constantly sprint head-first into the nearest wall.
Ubisoft said that they had been working hard to tidy up how the parkour felt before the game launched, so hopefully, this will feel more polished by the time the game drops in March.
Will I like Assassins Creed Shadows?
Depends! So far, I think the game is really solid. I haven’t really been sucked into an Assassin’s Creed game in a long while, but Shadows hit way better than I thought it would. I think the team at Ubisoft has finally found a way to make the game fun to explore without overwhelming the player with so much that they’ll give up before trying.
I’m also a big sucker for the kind of combat in the game. Nothing tickles my silly monkey brain the same way as timing a perfect parry, and Shadows scratches that itch for sure.
If you love the Assassin’s Creed series, you’ll most likely really enjoy this game. If you played the Ezio series and dropped off as I did, things will also feel very familiar here, and I think it will be a satisfying return to the franchise. Now, if you’re not as familiar with the series but love movies about Samurai or other games like Spider-Man 2 or God of War, there’s definitely a lot to appreciate in the game, and you’ll have no issues finding things to like about it.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows drops on March 25 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.
Image credit: Ubisoft
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